Back in 2020, a representative from the Utah State University Sustainability Extension Permaculture Initiative asked us to present as part of their online educational series.
We chatted about what they were looking for in a successful presentation and what skills their audience wanted to develop. Quickly, we decided that plant identification was a serious topic of interest.
Our presentation had the highest turnout of any online class that year. There were over 800 people interested in the event and we had at least 99 people attend the meeting virtually.
Here’s a screenshot of the 2020 Impact Report from USU Sustainability Permaculture Initative about the presentation:
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find any video of the live presentation. However, we were able to find the event page and the associated attendance data.
At the beginning, we had dozens of folks that were interested, but the week before the presentation, we had hundreds of people interested daily.
After the webinar, we had folks reaching out to us for about a year congratulating us on a wonderful program. It lead to many new partnerships across Utah, including the Utah Public Archaeology Network.
Now available (with minimal updates) here are the slides from over 5 years ago.
We had a great time presenting these resources and interacting with the audience. It was the largest online group we’ve presented in front of and we’d like to beat that record!
If you’re interested in hosting a successful webinar or presentation, schedule a meeting with us.
We’re committed to providing comprehensive workforce development programming for your community.
A plant key is a tool used to artificially classify a plant based on it’s physical characteristics. Typically, these keys feature conserved characteristics like reproductive structures as they rarely change from generation-to-generation in plants.
However, with many plants, especially trees, it can be hard to identify the plant because there is a short window to observe their reproductive structures. This is why we use vegetative parts in our keys.
In this key, we’ve used multiple characteristics to help users learn how to see plant patterns from a botanist’s perspective. Try making your own key from plants in your community! We’ve included many resources in the pdf for you to explore.
Why Should I Use A Plant Key Instead of an App?
While apps and AI can be helpful in identifying plant species, it’s not recommeneded. Plant taxonomy experts look at all sorts of small characteristics to build a plant profile for artificial keys.
Frequently, apps will provide the wrong species due to many factors like: wrong location, poor cell service, blurry photos, no identification tied to herbarium-vouchered specimens, etc.
Addiitonally, there are better tools available! Try iNaturalist, an app that uses verified source material and subject matter experts from around the world to help accurately identify plant species.
In reality, my experience wasn’t that lighthearted. I loved many aspects of my job, the agency mission that I supported, the people I worked with, the communities across Texas that I served, but the reality of being on the front lines of the climate crisis was exhausting. Being in a highly visible role while wrestling with the political realities that contradicted good science AND good people was nearly impossible.
Over time, I had to accept that many community leaders had no concept of public land, that plants and trees were alive, nor that parks could be a peaceful havens for the community.
A live oak trying to survive in Fort Worth, Texas on St Louis Ave & Leuda Street. More than half of its roots were cut and it is still standing. However, a tree may not react to external stressors like these for many seasons.
Both Utah and Texas are conservative and deeply red states that have strong, traditional values. However, approaches to educate the general public and community partners about communal property were vastly different.
When interacting with community members, I knew how to reframe and direct common public land narratives to tie indigenous sovereignty, best management practices and climate change together. In short, I ‘spoke’ the language of the LDS faithful and happily facilitated opportunities to educate inquiring minds. I still do.
The Texan identity is fundamental to addressing climate change narratives in the state, but developing a love of nature in children there is extraordinarily difficult. In my experience, children from Texas actively disliked and some even feared the outdoors.There’s many reasons, but most of the perspectives I heard seemed related to safety concerns tied to racism and outdoor access,venomous animals, record heat waves,wildfire risk and flooding.
For community members that don’t have the opportunity to build a relationship and responsibility with nature, having regular access to community science educators should be a priority for lawmakers and leaders.
My favorite method of getting families outdoors was partnering with local parks and recreation departments to offer moon-lit Nature and Forest Therapy hikes from late spring to early fall. I developed a hybrid method that made space for participants to feel comfortable outdoors, offer answers to their science questions and practice supervised way-finding.
In other words, it was cooler, the full moon offered enough light to for children to guide their parents on the well-marked trail, reinforced safe interactions with night wildlife, and helped children and adults feel confident to revisit the park during the day.
My most successful method is building community-led programs that align with narratives which empower undeserved members because that has been my lived experience as a low-income, first generation high school and college graduate.
You may find another method that aligns well with your passions and skills.
As a scientist, I have a responsibility to facilitate conversations and spread knowledge about climate realities. I believe it can be through applied hope and joy. By advocating for responsible stewardship, we can offer culturally-relevant education, skill building, intergenerational investment and personal accountability.
As a person who was once a child, community led me to a career that brings me great joy that I get to share with everyone I meet. How do we foster joy in our relationships to each other and our plant friends?
I think the simplest way is to become friends with a tree.
Originally published in October 2019 and re-published on May 2, 2025.
I’ve seen a number of posts on social media talking about wildcrafting and harvesting. I think it is an excellent opportunity to discuss this botanist’s perspective on ethical harvesting. My personal philosophy is simply this: don’t take more than you can use. However, this also means that you should be mindful of the ecosystem that you are harvesting from.
Here are some key questions you should ask yourself: Does this population have more than 7-10 individuals? Is there another population of this plant nearby? Has this stand already been harvested from?
When I explain this concept to children, I explain that you shouldn’t eat wild plants unless the following conditions have been met:
1.) Has Morgan (or another trusted adult) said it is okay to eat this plant?
2.) What are the ways you can tell this plant is safe to eat (ex. Serviceberry has leaves that look like cat paws, white flowers and/or fruit that looks like blueberries)?
3.) Why do you want to eat/collect this plant?
I ask these questions for a number of reasons. Primarily, it builds critical thinking skills while also building good habits about mindful collection and our role in our environment. When answering the third question, it brings to mind your motivations about why you are using this plant. If this is the only plant that you see and it has already been munched on by animals and you have snacks with you, why collect? Animals don’t have grocery stores or kitchens or appliances to store food, while we, as humans, have innumerable tools at our disposal to eat a relatively healthy diet.
Take Home Points:
1.) Be confident in your plant identification skills. If you aren’t 100% what this plant is, don’t eat it! Take a photo and post it on a plant ID page on social media (Make sure you include your location, photos of flowers, fruits, leaves and habit!).
2.) Count out how many individual plants exist in this area. We are looking for at least 7.
3.) Generally, we shouldn’t collect more than half of what a single plant is producing to make sure that there is enough for animals and the seed bank.
4.) Consider recording GPS coordinates and collecting a specimen for your local herbarium and iNaturalist. This helps local plant enthusiasts understand the distribution of species in an area!
Suggested Literature:
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (Kimmerer, 2013)
Are you interested in cultivating your botanizing skills, wanting to learn about local plants in your yard, or are wanting me to come assist you in a project?
Abbott Botanical Assessments, LLC 